Background and Introduction
Incidence and classification
Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas | Frequency (%) | 5-y DSS (%) | Behavior |
---|---|---|---|
Mycosis fungoides, early stage | 39 | 88 | Indolent |
MF Variants | |||
Folliculotropic MF | 5 | 75 | Indolent |
Pagetoid reticulosis | < 1 | 100 | Indolent |
Granulomatous slack skin | < 1 | 100 | Indolent |
Sézary syndrome | 2 | 36 | Aggressive |
Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma | < 1 | NDA | |
Primary cutaneous CD30( +) T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders | |||
Primary Cutaneous Anaplastic Large-Cell Lymphoma | 8 | 95 | Indolent |
Lymphomatoid Papulosis | 12 | 99 | Indolent |
Subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma | 1 | 87 | Indolent |
Extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type | < 1 | 16 | Aggressive |
Chronic active EBV infection | < 1 | NDA | |
Primary cutaneous peripheral T-cell lymphoma, rare subtypes | |||
Primary cutaneous gamma/delta T-cell lymphoma | < 1 | 11 | Aggressive |
CD8 + AECTCL (provisional) | < 1 | 31 | Aggressive |
Primary cutaneous CD4 + small/medium T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder | 6 | 100 | Indolent |
Primary cutaneous acral CD8 + T-cell lymphoma (provisional) | < 1 | 100 | Indolent |
Primary cutaneous peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified | 2 | 15 | Aggressive |
Cutaneous B-cell Lymphomas | |||
Primary cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma | 9 | 99 | Indolent |
Primary cutaneous follicle center lymphoma | 12 | 95 | Indolent |
Primary cutaneous diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, leg type | 4 | 56 | Intermediate |
EBV + mucocutaneous ulcer | < 1 | 100 | Indolent |
Intravascular large B-cell lymphoma | < 1 | 72 | Indolent |
Diagnostic methods and staging
A. TNMB classification of MF/Sézary syndrome | |
---|---|
(T) Skin | |
T1 | Limited patch or plaque < 10% total skin surface area |
T2 | Generalized patch or plaque > 10% total skin surface area |
T3 | Tumor(s) |
T4 | Erythroderma |
(N) Lymph Node | |
N0 | No clinically abnormal peripheral lymph nodes |
N1 | Clinically abnormal peripheral nodes; histologically normal |
N2 | Clinically abnormal peripheral nodes; histologically involved (uneffaced nodal architecture) |
N3 | Clinically abnormal peripheral nodes; histologically involved (partially effaced nodal architecture) |
Nx | Clinically abnormal peripheral nodes; not histological confirmation |
(M) Viscera | |
M0 | No visceral involvement |
M1 | Visceral involvement |
(B) Blood | |
B0 | No circulating atypical (Sézary) cells (or < 5% of lymphocytes) |
B1 | Low blood tumor burden (> or equal to 5% lymphocytes are Sézary cells) |
B2 | High blood tumor burden (> or equal to 100/μL Sézary cells and positive clone) |
B. Clinical staging of MF/Sézary using TNMB classification | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
IA | T1 | N0 | M0 | B0-1 |
IB | T2 | N0 | M0 | B0-1 |
IIA | T1-2 | N1-2 | M0 | B0-1 |
IIB | T3 | N0-2 | M0 | B0-1 |
III | T4 | N0-2 | M0 | B0-1 |
IVA1 | T1-4 | N0-2 | M0 | B2 |
IVA2 | T1-4 | N3 | M0 | B0-2 |
IVB | T1-4 | N0-3 | M1 | B0-2 |
C. TNM classification of non-MF/Sézary primary cutaneous lymphomas | |
---|---|
(T) Skin | |
T1 | Solitary skin lesion |
T1a: lesion size < 5 cm diameter | |
T1b: lesion size < 5 cm diameter | |
T2 | Multiple skin lesions confined to 1 body region or 2 contiguous body regions |
T2a: all-disease-encompassing in a < 15 cm diameter circular area | |
T2b: all-disease-encompassing in a > 15- and < 30 cm diameter circular area | |
T2c: all-disease-encompassing in a > 30 cm diameter circular area | |
T3 | Generalized skin involvement |
T3a: multiple lesions involving 2 noncontiguous body regions | |
T3b: multiple lesions involving > or equal to 3 body regions | |
(N) Lymph node | |
N0 | No clinical or pathologic lymph node involvement |
N1 | 1 peripheral lymph node involved, drains area of diseased skin |
N2 | 2 or more peripheral lymph nodes in region of diseased skin OR involvement of 1 or more lymph nodes not in region of affected skin |
N3 | Central lymph nodes involved |
(M)Viscera | |
M0 | No evidence of extracutaneous non-lymph node disease |
M1 | Extracutaneous non-lymph node disease is present |
TNMB staging of MF and Sézary syndrome primary cutaneous lymphomas
TNM staging of non-MF/Sézary syndrome primary cutaneous lymphomas
Managing indolent versus aggressive PCL
Methods
Study, year | Design | Subject # | Results | Conclusions |
---|---|---|---|---|
[6] | Retrospective analysis of baseline and post-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT scans | 11 patients with subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma | At initial PET/CT scans, 5/11 patients had extracutaneous non-lymph node lesions with SUVmax of 5.6 ± 2.8 on 18F-FDG PET/CT. Follow-up 18F-FDG PET/CT scans in 6 patients revealed complete remission of the disease in 2, partial remission in 3, and progressive disease in 1 (Fig. 3) | The superiority of 18F-FDG PET/CT over CT alone at detecting subcutaneous lesions makes it a useful tool for mapping out extent of disease, guiding biopsy, diagnosing, staging, and evaluating treatment response in patients with 18F-FDG-avid PCLs like SPTCL |
[12] | Retrospective analysis of baseline and post-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT scans | Retrospective analysis of the 18F-FDG PET/CT for 17 patients diagnosed with PCL; 8 patients had PC-FCL and 9 had PC-MZL | 18F-FDG PET/CT detected cutaneous lesions in 4/8 of the PC-FCL patients, and in 5/9 of the PC-MZL patients | 18F-FDG PET/CT is more sensitive than CT for detecting cutaneous lesions and allows for visualization of lesions not identified on physical exam. However, PC-BCL lesions are not 18F-FDG avid in a significant proportion of patients |
[18] | Prospective study analysis of baseline 18F-FDG PET/CT scans compared to baseline CT scans | A total of 18 cases with non-MF/SS PCL, were analyzed in this study. 13 of these were T-cell or NK PCL, 5 of these were PC-BCL, and 1 was a "precursor hematologic neoplasm" | Non-MF/SS PCL in this study: PC-MZL, diffuse large B-cell PCL, anaplastic large-cell PCL, PC-ENK/T-NT and SPTCL. The diagnostic sensitivity of CT and PET/CT scans in the diagnosis of primary skin lesions was 82.4% (14/17) and 100% (17/17), respectively. 3/18 cases of cutaneous PCL were missed by CT, while 18F-FDG PET was positive for detection of skin lesions in 18/18 cases (Fig. 4) | Compared to CT alone, 18F-FDG PET/CT is more sensitive for detection of malignant skin lesions. Subcutaneous skin lesions are easily missed by CT. 18F-FDG PET/CT should be used over CT alone for detection of subcutaneous-presenting B-cell and T-cell PCL, especially SPTCL and PC-ENK/T-NT |
[19] | Retrospective analysis of the baseline and post-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT scans | 20 patients with MZL had subcutaneous lesions identified on 18F-FDG PET/CT | 20 patients with subcutaneous MZL verified by biopsy (Fig. 5). Subcutaneous MZL lesions are easier to detect on 18F-FDG PET than on CT scans. The detection of subcutaneous MZL lesions changed the disease stage in 8 patients (40%) and resulted in a therapeutic decision change in 2 patients (10%) | 18F-FDG PET/CT analysis may help in the detection of indolent subcutaneous MZL with low 18F-FDG avidity and improve diagnostic sensitivity, staging, and treatment decisions |
[24] | Retrospective analysis of baseline 18F-FDG PET/CT scans | 33 patients with PC-BCL: 26 (79%) had small-cell PC-BCL (18 marginal zone, 8 follicle center lymphoma) and 7 (21%) had large-cell PC-BCL (3 follicle center, 3 leg type, 1 indeterminate) | 18F-FDG PET/CT detected skin lesions in 3 of 26 patients (12%) with small-cell PC-BCL as compared to 6 of 7 patients with large-cell PC-BLC (86%), a 7.4-fold higher detection rate (95% confidence interval, 2.4–22, P = 0.004). PET-positive lesions were larger size (P < 0.001) and a higher Ki-67 proliferation index (P < 0.001). PET/CT detected 100% of PC-LCL-LT and diffuse large-cell lymphoma, which are considered intermediate-aggressive types, and only 11% of PC-MZLs and 27% of PC-FCLs, which are indolent types | The sensitivity of 18F-FDG PET/CT for detecting cutaneous lesions is low for indolent B-cell PCLs like PC-MZL and PC-FCL, and high for aggressive PC-BCL like PC-DLBCL-leg type |
[23] | Retrospective analysis of CXR, HRUS and 18F-FDG PET/CT images | 41 patients diagnosed with PCL (33 B-cell and 8 T-cell lymphomas) had imaging performed during initial diagnosis and or staging follow-up visits. 18F-FDG PET/CT scan was performed in 13 cases | Whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging detected cutaneous lesions in 12/13 patients; the missed lesion was a B-cell PCL. PET/CT displayed increased 18F-FDG uptake in 92.3% of cutaneous lesions. HRUS was useful for visualizing extent of tumor infiltration in the cutaneous layers and for characterizing vascularity, calcifications, and density of lesions | 18F-FDG PET/CT is the recommended modality of imaging for staging and follow-up in both B-cell and T-cell PCLs |
[21] | Retrospective analysis of 18F-FDG PET/CT scans | 11 patients with PC-ALCL had both 18F-FDG PET/CT and CT baseline imaging performed. Results of 18F-FDG PET/CT compared with those of CT. Biopsy results served as a reference for the accuracy of PET and CT | The sensitivity of 18F-FDG-PET was 64% versus 18% for CT, demonstrating the added value of 18F-FDG-PET in initial staging for patients with PC-ALCL first presenting in the skin. In PC-ALCL, 18F-FDG-PET influences the therapeutic decision, except in T1aN0M0-classified patients | 18F-FDG PET/CT is valuable for the initial staging of PC-ALCL because it is more sensitive than CT alone for detection of cutaneous and extracutaneous lesions. Earlier detection of PC-ALCL by PET/CT may impact therapeutic decisions |
[20] | Retrospective analysis of baseline 18F-FDG PET/CT scans compared to CT and MRI, conventional staging methods | 39 patients newly diagnosed with PC-ENK/T-NT imaged with 18F-FDG PET/CT, CT and MRI. Skin biopsies used to verify diagnosis | In the detection of malignant PC-ENK/T-NT skin lesions, 18F-FDG PET/CT detected 48/50 cutaneous and CT/MRI detected only 34 cutaneous lesions. 18F-FDG PET/CT is 96% sensitive and 98.6% specific, while CT/MRI are 68% sensitive and 97.9% specific (P < 0.001). 18F-FDG PET/CT staging was consistent with the final stage determination in 94.9% (37/39) of patients, whereas CT/MRI staging was correct in final stage determination in 74.4% (29/39) of patients (P = 0.025) | 18F-FDG PET/CT scanning is more accurate than CT or MRI for the detection of cutaneous and extracutaneous lesions of PC-ENK/T-NT. 18F-FDG PET/CT is a superior tool for staging and evaluation of patient response to treatment |
[22] | Retrospective analysis of 18F-FDG PET/CT scans prior to treatment | 19 patients (mean age, 40.6 years; median age 41 years; 16 males and 3 females) diagnosed with mycosis fungoides and with risk of secondary LN involvement were included in the study | 18F-FDG-avid cutaneous lesions visualized via PET/CT in 13 out of 19 patients. 4 patients underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT which enabled visualization of disease response to treatment in cutaneous lesions. (Fig. 8). 18F-FDG PET/CT is more sensitive than CT for detection of diseased LNs (Fig. 7A, B). Physical exam is superior to 18F-FDG PET/CT in the detection of thin, superficial cutaneous lesions; Review of NAC PET images improves detection of superficial cutaneous lesions | 18F-FDG PET/CT is valuable for guiding biopsy of high-grade lesions that are not always visible on physical exam. Whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT should be performed at initial staging of MF, and NAC PET images should always be evaluated |